Phagwara tense as right-wing members clash with Dalits
DSP’S official vehicle vandalised during a protest
PHAGWARA :Tension prevailed in Phagwara after a clash between members of two communities on Friday evening.
Trouble began when some unidentified persons attacked Rahul Karwal, nephew of senior state vice-president of Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray) Inderjit Karwal at his shop in the Meli Gate are of the town.
Later, members of the Hindu outfit rushed to the spot and thrashed two men belonging to the Valmiki community. The injured have been admitted to the civil hospital.
Police said both the groups had a scuffle three days following an old rivalry.
A first information report (FIR) has been registered against members of both the groups, said the police.
Tension escalated when members of a group took to streets and forced the shopkeepers to down their shutters. They also damaged glass doors of some of the shops.
They then held a protest out- side the city police station and also damaged the official vehicle of the deputy superintendent of police (DSP).
Heavy police force has been deployed in the area to keep the situation under control, said senior superintendent of police (SSP) Satinder Singh.
He said the situation is now under control and supporters of both the parties have been pacified.
“The police are investigating the incident,” he said.
On April 13 last year, a clash broke out between members of a Dalit outfit and Hindu “upper caste” right-wing groups over renaming of Gol Chowk to Samvidhan Chowk in which a Dalit youth Yashwant Bobby, who was injured in the clash, died on April 29.